GOT STATIC?

Sick of your hair floating around your head? What you need is moisture!

Go easy on the hairspray and avoid spraying perfume on your strands as both will dry them out even more. Instead add a styling cream or straightening serum to your hair when it is damp and before you blowdry. In a pinch? Rub a little hand lotion all over your hands and then rub your hands down your head. The wax and/or oils in the hand lotion will tame the flyaways!

p.s Aveda's just came out with a super light Texturizing Creme that works great on fine hair to smooth fly-aways and tame fuzzy ends. (it can be applied to damp or dry hair)

HOW TO: Curl Your Hair With A Flat Iron

Check this out! Its a clear, well explained, video on how to curl your hair with your flat iron:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fpl9KYzmJ6s

Reminder: always use a 'heat protector' before applying any iron to your hair (round or flat). It will help the hair hold the shape ironed into it and prevent fried, fuzzy hair.

I found a great deal on Amazon for the 'hot sauce' used on the video:
http://www.amazon.com/FHI-Sauce-2-fluid-ounces-Bottle/dp/B002ZNJJ8E/ref=pd_sim_hpc_6

BOX COLOR -For whom?

Here's a few bit of info about Box Color. Use at your own risk =)

1) Box Color is designed for white hair. The color they show on the box is the color your hair will look after applied; if your hair is white to begin with. If not....no guarantees.

2) Box Color has ground metals in it to preserve it while it sits on the shelf. Its like rubbing ground metal into your hair. With each use your hair strands may get thinner or rougher.

3) Box Color is made to penetrate all hair types, even very stubborn white coarse hair. Meaning the chemical content in most box colors is much stronger than we would ever mix for a client.

4) Because of its strong chemical level, Box Color can be incredibly hard to remove from hair. If you have light colored hair and you go darker with a Box Color, a stylist needs to use stronger chemicals to lift out the color.

5) Box Color (after repeated applications) may not look natural. Why?
a) With repeated use the color at the roots will appear lighter than the color at the tips of the hair. 'Natural' looking hair should be darkest at the root and lightest on the ends. (This can be avoided by only recoloring your regrowth and not painting thru the already colored hair.)
b) Box Color will not usually lighten hair to a neutral color. It often lightens it to a orange/ brassy color. This it because most box color is not designed to lighten hair.

6) Who should never use box color? Women with thin hair because it will make the hair thinner and more delicate. Who is the best candidate for Box Color? Women (or men) with medium to thick, coarse, mostly (or all) white hair. But if you get a goofy color - go see a professional! =)

Tight on funds and need color? Try a foil instead of a color -it can camouflage gray and has no outgrowth line -so you can space your salon visits a little further apart. Or if your really on a tight budget, try an ammonia free, rinse or color, close to your natural color.

p.s. If you do come in for color and you have used box color in the past -PLEASE tell your stylist! (We can usually tell anyways =) and it helps us formulate a more chemically appropriate formula for your hair, so that you have happy healthy hair. ~Liza

Look younger #2 - Winter Skin

Is your skin feeling dry, itchy or cracked? Take an Olive Oil bath! Your skin will feel great! Its easy: Pour 1/4 cup of olive oil into a hot bath. Enjoy! To relieve mental stress, and to smell extra good, add a few drops of your favorite scented oil. p.s. thank you Jasmine for reminding me how great these baths are. ~Liza

911 for Damaged Hair

For those of us that use blow-dryers, flat irons, curling irons, get highlights and/or color, ...our hair takes a beating!!!

If your hair is a frazzled, dry, split, fuzzy mess, its time to take some serious action to save your hair! And yes, it can be saved. Cutting it shorter, helps stop split ends, but doesn't solve the real problem. Strengthening and replenishing your hair, so that it doesn't dissolve away, is the key.

1) Shampoo n' Conditioner. If you can only afford two good hair products, spend it on good shampoo and good conditioner! The wrong shampoo and conditioner can make matters much, much, much worse, or even be the cause of the problem! (read: October blog on 'Cheap Shampoo' and November blog on 'Conditioner Makes a Difference!').
For damaged hair, look for a combo designed to strengthen with proteins. Products with protein may cost more, but protein is the only ingredient that can truly rebuild each strand and give it the strength to withstand heat.
For seriously damaged hair try Aveda's Smooth Infusion shampoo and conditioner or Bumble and Bumble's Damage Therapy treatment set. I have seen amazing results with both. For slightly damaged hair and a more affordable option, Alba sells great sets, with conditioners that contain soy protein. If you already have a high quality shampoo and conditioner but just need to add protein try Aveda's Damage Remedy Mask or Bumble and Bumble's Damage Therapy Mask. IMPORTANT: Once hair has been strengthened with proteins, take a break from protein mask or any intense protein treatments.

2) Leave-in Conditioner. If you use heat of any kind, a leave-in conditioner should be considered (this is in addition to the normal conditioner used in the shower.) It will protect and moisturize the hair strands, add shine and smoothness to the ends and stop static. When heat is used on hair it sucks moisture out of the hair strand. A leave-in conditioner acts as a barrier between the heat and your hair. That way, the product gets sucked out of the hair when heat is applied. Leave-in conditioners are also called; styling creams, smoothing lotions, straightening gels and a variety of other things.

3) Iron Protection. Damp hair should NEVER be ironed. Every time you put an iron on your hair, a heat-protection spray should be used. The heat of the iron steams out moisture and destroys the protein cells that the hair is composed of. Heat-protection products, work by coating the hair, thus protecting the protein cells and lightly lubricating the hair strands. If you use irons, buy a heat protection spray! In this case, a cheap protection, is better than no protection.
The best heat protection spray I have used is GHD's Thermal Protector (it comes in two options: thin-normal hair or normal-thick hair.) or Aveda's Damage Control works well too.

4) Tools.
-- Round brush's with metal cores can act like irons, consider switching to one with a ceramic core and natural bore bristles.
-- Blow-dryers should ideally have mulitple heat settings so that you can set it at medium temperature and not use the high heat settings. (Try sucking out most of the water from the hair with paper towels before you blow dry if your in a rush.) The more powerful your blow-dryer is, the faster the air blows out of it and the quicker your hair will dry. Look for a turbo of at least 1800 watts.
-- Flat irons / Styling irons (looks like a flat iron but straightens and curls) are all very different from one another. Without getting into a lot of details... you get what you pay for. The cheap irons often burn hair and take longer to straighten. Quality ones have a better heat bed and thus get your hair straighter and smoother faster. Most stylists use GHD's 1 inch Styling Iron. CHI is also a good brand.
-- Curling irons are made very similar to one another, cheap or expensive, doesn't really matter.
Damaged hair can be saved! But it takes a little pampering. Love your hair! ~Liza

Look Younger #1 - Luscious Lips

Want fuller, smoother, better looking lips this year? Do you want to look years younger? Then its time to make your lips luscious!

Dry, dull or cracked lips quickly add years on our faces. Who wants that? Not me! So here are some tricks:

1) Drink more water! Dehydration is the number one cause of dry, rough lips.
2) Exfoliate! Scuff off old skin cells and encourage new ones. Be gentle! Lips are delicate! My favorite trick is to exfoliate with toothpaste while I'm brushing my teeth. (White -not gel- toothpaste works best). While brushing dab your lips with some of the toothpaste 'foam' and let the toothpaste sit on your lips while you finish brushing. Rinse off and immediately moisturize. (it easy to over exfoliate lips, so I only do this a couple times a week)
3) Moisturize! Use good lip balm. ChapStick brand lip balm is one of the worst! Why? Because it is mostly wax and alcohol. When applied it fills the cracks with wax, making your lips feel super smooth, but as the wax wears off you are left with dryer lips from the alcohol and lack of real moisturizer. Good lip balm does not have to be expensive. My favorite is; Trader Joe's VIRTUOSO lip balm with SPF 15 ($3.00 for 3 tubes!). Other good lip balms are: Aveeno's (at Target), Aveda's, and Burt's Bee's. Or if your at home just rub on a little olive oil!
4) Enhance! Dull lips look smaller. Colorful lips look bigger. I'm not suggesting hot red lips. But I do like to enhance my natural color with lip pencil. This can be done with a lip pencil that is close or just slightly different than your natural color. Especially fill in any cracks on the line of your top lip.
5) Pump and shine! Final step. Add a gloss or lipstick. If you like lipstick, bright 'berry' colors do wonders (Aveda has some great colors). As for glosses, the thicker the gloss, the larger your lips will look. Apply generously! I like to go a little past my upper lip line for that 'swollen' lip look. (don't go past you bottom lip line tho or you'll just look messy.) Current favorites: M.A.C clear LIPGLASS ($14.00), and N.Y.C. Lippin' Large Lip Plumper ($4.00 -at Target).

I would prefer using a natural lip gloss, since unnatural lip products have been linked with breast cancer, but i haven't found one that stays in place very well yet. Let me know if you come across any great natural thick lip glosses that stay put!

We subconsciously connect shiny and smooth with youth. Take a few years off by taking care of those lips! ~Liza

Conditioner Makes a Difference!

Beautiful hair starts in the shower. The air outside is getting dry and heaters in our houses have been turned on. Now its time to make sure your using the right conditioner!

Well made conditioners will moisturizes and strengthen hair.

Cheap conditioners will coat the hair with a waxy film which neither moisturizes or strengthens but will give the user a temporary false sense of 'smooth' (aka waxy) hair. The lack of natural moisturizers in the cheap conditioners throws off the pH balance of the scalp causing the scalp to either OVER produce oil or become dry and flaky. The waxy film on the scalp can also cause scalp acne, and clogged hair follicles (that means less hair is growing out of your head).

So what should you look for in a conditioner?

Water: This is generally the first ingredient. Water is a moisturizer. It helps with bounce and shine.

Protein: Hair is primarily made up of proteins. Lack of protein in the hair can cause the hair to be brittle and limp. Heat (hairdryers, irons), and lightening (making your hair color lighter in any way) damages the proteins. When hair is 'dyed' the color attaches to the proteins. If your protein count is low, the 'dye' won't have as much to grab onto and may easily fade out. If you don't eat much protein, use heat, lighten or 'dye' your hair, protein is a very important ingredient to have in your conditioner. However some proteins can be expensive so the higher the protein content, generally the more expensive the conditioner is.

Oils: Usually derived from flowers, fruits, olives, seeds and honey oil replenishes what the dry air, hairdryers and irons have sucked out. If your skin feels dry then most likely your hair is dry too. Even thin, fine hair needs some oils to prevent it from being dry, tangled, fuzzy hair. Oils also help keep each strand a little more 'plumper' making your color look brighter and shinier. For those who do want more moisture most haircare lines make an 'intense' option often containing things like Shea butter or coconut oil.

That covers the basics. Beyond that it can depend on individual hair types and needs. I'll get into that in future blogs. Hope your having a great week! ~Liza

Side Note: One of our most popular items at AVEDA is the rosemary mint shampoo and conditioner. Unless you have young virgin hair, or really short hair, steer clear! The shampoo is good for the scalp BUT tends to pull color and the conditioner does not have enough moister for most people, leaving them with static, tangled hair.
( I do still buy rosemary mint shampoo, I LOVE the smell, but i use it as body wash. =)

Sulfate Vs. Sulfoacetate

Clients using ALBA shampoo have noticed that there is Sodium Lauryl Sulfoacetate in it. So the question has come up: is ALBA or any other shampoos with this ingredient ok to use?

There is a difference between Sodium Lauryl Sulfoacetate and Sodium Lauryl Sulfate. The stuff in the natural shampoo, Sodium Lauryl Sulfoacetate, is derived from coconut and palm oils. It is also a large molecule ingredient, meaning chemically its considered gentle, non-irritating, and the molecule will not penetrate the skin.

In contrast, Sodium Lauryl Sulfate is an irritating small molecule ingredient that does penetrate the skin, thus you get the negative result listed in my cheap shampoo memo.

So when it ends in 'sulfate' its BAD and when it ends in 'sulfoacetate' its GOOD. YAH! You can keep using your ALBA shampoo! Happy Washing! ~Liza

Cheap Shampoo

Cheap shampoo has a lot of cheap chemicals in it. That's why its cheap.

Two most used chemicals are Sodium laureth sulfate and Sodium lauryl sulfate (SLS). These chemicals help make suds and bubbles. It also dissolves grease and oil. In fact it dissolves grease so well that it is used in garages to dissolve grease on car engines. The problem is it over drys your hair and dissolves all the oils on your hair and skin, so you end up with tangled, split, fuzzy hair and dry, wrinkle prone skin! (I have also seen have a reverse effect on scalps, where the scalp starts to over produce oils in an effort to combat the dryness, giving the user super oily hair n' scalp.)

(it gets worse...

Once it has been absorbed, one of the main effects of SLS is to mimic the activity of the hormone Oestrogen. This can increase problems with PMS, Menopausal symptoms, male fertility, and female cancers. YIKES!)

What to do?

Read your label! If either of these ingredients are anywhere near the beginning of the list put it back on the shelf!!! If your shopping at say, Target, try the isle over by the cosmetics with Burt's Bee's and ALBA and other such 'natural' options. Some 'natural' brands still have a tiny percentage of the chemical in them unfortunately, (because consumers complain when shampoo doesn't 'suds' up) but at least you won't be dumping a whole bottle of it on yourself!

For Shampoo completely free of harsh chemicals try, Whole Foods, Mississippi Market, Kowalski's or any health food store.

Now your one step closer to beautiful healthy hair. ~Liza

Online Makeover!

Ever wanted to know what you look like with a different hair color? Or what lipstick looks best with your new color? Or if you look better in long hair or short? Then take a photo of yourself (with your hair pulled back) and upload it at this site to find a new you!
http://www.instyle.com/instyle/makeover/
P.s. You can also use one of their provided photos and pick a photo of someone who looks similar to you.

Hot Tips

I found a great site that has some great tips for loving your hair.
Check it out at: http://www.greathairstyletips.com/

First Post

Ahh the first post at my new blog! The pressure is on to say something phenomenal. How about 'thank you!' to anyone who is reading this! I am excited to finally be able to answer hair questions in more detail and with the ability to do any needed research. Let the fun begin!